Analysis Of The Gender Blur

Are women considered masculine if they sit with their legs spread? Are men considered more feminine if they sit with their legs crossed? Gender roles and behaviors are all around us. Society has conditioned us to believe that categorizing genders into “gender boxes” is the norm. We have all heard the classic trite sayings, “Men are the head of the house” or “Women should always cook dinner for their families.” Author, Aaron Devor tackles these issues in her article, “Gender Roles Behaviors and Attitudes”; and discusses in depth how gender roles and behaviors are not “natural” and more on the lines of “cultural constructs.” Qualities as such are also identified in Deborah Blum’s article, “The Gender Blur” which reinforces the idea that humans are not born with the stereotypical idea of masculinity and femininity but taught it.

By highlighting in depth, the idea of femininity and masculinity, both Devor and Blum asserts how gender discrimination affects children thus clashing with preexisting societal gender roles. Devor argues in her article how early ideas of femininity are stereotypical. She states, in “Gender Roles Behaviors and Attitudes” the preexisting idea of femininity is “according to this traditional formulation, a ‘result in warm and continued relationships with men, as sense of maternity, interest in caring for children. And the capacity to work productively and